Avoiding Confrontations In Wake of Racial Attack

By MARIA NEWMAN

Published: January 13, 1992

The day after her two children were attacked by four young white men who squirted them with a white liquid in what the police say was a bias assault, Nellie Wilson was deluged with telephone calls.

Mayor David N. Dinkins wanted to know if the two black children, a 14-year-old boy and his 12-year-old sister, needed the aid of city counselors. The Rev. Al Sharpton wanted to know if he could call on the family.

A string of other racial attacks that the police say might have been in retaliation have followed near the Williamsbridge neighborhood of the Bronx and elsewhere. But for the most part, there have not been noisy marches in the street or angry crowds in televised demonstrations labeling the neighborhood as racist. Guarding Privacy

That there has not has much to do with the character of Mrs. Wilson, as well as with the Dinkins administration and the Bronx Borough President, Fernando Ferrer.

Like a mother hen, Mrs. Wilson has guarded her children's privacy even while speaking out on the fury she feels over what happened. She has chosen to speak for herself, instead of relying on someone to act as her advocate to demand that the police pursue her children's attackers.

And the Dinkins administration and Mr. Ferrer seemed to have learned from other racial clashes how to keep down the level of public hysteria after the cruel attack on Mrs. Wilson's children.

"Quick condemnation by leadership is the best means of assuring that these incidents don't get out of control," said Dennis deLeon, the city's Human Rights Commissioner. "The Mayor's very clear and heartfelt condemnation the day of the attack made all the difference in bringing the matter under control."

Last night, Mrs. Wilson and the children visited the Mayor at Gracie Mansion. He spoke to the children of prejudice and the will to overcome it. "He told them to try to put this behind them," she said. "He said don't let this experience let them be hateful." From Virgin Islands

While Mrs. Wilson can barely contain her anger when she talks about the youths who painted her children's faces white after they robbed them and snipped her daughter's hair, she has worked hard to keep her children's pain from turning into hatred.

Mrs. Wilson, 33, a nursing student from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands who is raising a daughter and son by herself, has politely turned down offers of help from the city counselors and Mr. Sharpton. Of Mr. Sharpton, she said: "If he wants to hyperventilate over all this, I don't want any part of it. I think he means well, but I don't like the way he goes about it."

Mr. Sharpton's spokeswoman, Madelyn Chapman, acknowledged that he had called Mrs. Wilson to offer assistance. "She's not particularly interested," she said. "But they're still talking. Some people don't want to be thrust into the public light."

Without Mrs. Wilson's cooperation, Mr. Sharpton held a demonstration outside the 49th Precinct station house on Saturday that drew 80 to 100 people, the police said.

Ms. Chapman said Mr. Sharpton proceeded with his demonstration in the interest of "putting pressure on the police to make an arrest."

Mr. Sharpton has made a reputation fighting the causes of other black or Hispanic families. But some say he has done it in a way that only adds to the hysteria.

Deputy Mayor Bill Lynch is one of those, although he said Mayor Dinkins has never tailored his response to the attack on Mrs. Wilson's children to try to keep others, namely Mr. Sharpton, out of the picture.

"The Mayor was very forceful in his response," Mr. Lynch said. "Whether that stopped the involvement of other folks, I'm not sure. We're going to continue to try to step forward. But a lot of the credit has to go the family and how the mother has handled this whole incident."

The day of the attack, Mr. deLeon said, the Bias Response Team set up two years ago went into action. The Human Rights Commissioner's office was notified after Mrs. Wilson reported the attack to school officials. The police had already been notified.

Mr. deLeon called Mr. Lynch, who gave the Mayor details of what had happened. Other team members were notified, including Richard L. Murphy, the Youth Services Commissioner, and Gladys Carrion, the Community Development Agency Commissioner.

Their job was to notify field offices or agencies under contract to city agencies to address the matter at the neighborhood level, Mr. deLeon said.

The day after the attack, Mr. Ferrer met with about 30 clergy members, youth coordinators and other community group leaders to discuss a strategy to prevent retaliatory attacks and to calm the neighborhood.

The next day, he and others who attended the meeting, including the Bronx District Attorney, Robert T. Johnson, visited the two children's junior high school and talked with students about not adding to any hysteria and anger about the attack.

Yesterday, at Mr. Ferrer's suggestion, several Bronx ministers made racial bias their sermon topic. And at his urging, 100 more police officers have been patrolling the area.

Those efforts have not been totally successful. Throughout the week, the police continued to investigate a series of bias attacks, many of them involving blacks against whites or other light-skinned youths.

Not everyone believes quick responses by the Mayor and other leaders are enough to curb racial hatred that periodically erupts into attacks.

"Words of condemnation and messages of good will are not enough," said Michael Meyers, executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition, a group of about 30 civil rights and religious organizations. "This problem must be addressed more forcefully and systematically."